Getting Bapu's items back is a miracle, says Tushar Gandhi

March 06, 2009 12:15 IST

Terming as a "miracle" liquor baron Vijay Mallya's success at the auction of his great grandfather Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings in the United States, Tushar Gandhi on Friday said he was delighted that the memorabilia will come back to India.

"I am delighted, absolutely delighted that Vijay Mallya bought these things and they will now come back to India," he said.

Recalling that he was very apprehensive that something might go wrong at the auction, Gandhi said with the help of his friend and former cricketer Dilip Doshi he was trying to get the items back.

"We had put a safety measure in place and Doshi was also bidding for these items. But when we realised that there may be an Indian bidding against him, he stopped his bid at 1.7 million," he told NDTV.

Asked if he was surprised at industrialist Mallya's bid, he said, "I won't say that I was very surprised. I think at the back of my mind I was hoping that something like this will happen because I always believed that miracles do happen."

Gandhi said that Mallya was able to "outbid" everyone and buy the five iconic items of the Mahatma.

Asked if the Father of the Nation's legacy had been somewhat lost, he said Bapu's legacy has been allowed to wither away and become distant from the people.